Kim of Affairs of Living recently caught my eye on Twitter as a fellow gluten-free, allergen sensitive blogger, and I’ve been enjoying her tweets. Her blog informs us that she is GLUTEN-FREE, SOY-FREE, EGG-FREE, CORN-FREE, YEAST-FREE, CITRUS-FREE, TOMATO-FREE, POTATO-FREE, SUGAR-FREE, PEANUT-FREE, ALMOST ALWAYS DAIRY-FREE, AND NEARLY TREE-NUT FREE. Wow! That’s a lot of free eating! I was first inspired to adopt Kim for Adopt a gluten-free Blogger when I spied these toothsome potato-free, crinkle-cut oven-baked rutabaga fries recipe. Since I’m currently avoiding potatoes for Baby Yum I couldn’t resist. Besides, there are few vegetables that i haven’t tried- and rutabaga happens to be one of the last remaining to me. And, to truly follow the recipe I needed a new kitchen toy- a Crinkle Cutter. Gee, I just hate buying new kitchen toys, especially ones that help me emulate old favorite recipes. Anyway, so after i found my crinkle cutter (at Sur La Table) and identified rutabaga (the yellow and purple root veggies, not to be confused with the white and purple root TURNIPS) and brought some home, I tried her recipe for rutabaga fries. Happily, they were just as good as I’d hoped and were a wonderful substitute for potato fries. Roasting them doused in olive oil mellows any turnip-like harshness and brings out the natural sweetness while still retaining the vibrant- even strident- personality of the vegetable. And the crinkle cutter part made me do a little kid happy dance in the kitchen because using it was much fun and the results were adorable. Yes, even a rutabaga can be adorable. The whole family (even those that are no fans of turnip like vegetables) enjoyed the rutabaga fries and not one made it past the evening meal as a leftover. Next time I might buy twice the number or rutabagas.

It can be tough being gluten-free AND top allergen-free, and those bloggers that make it seem both manageable and delicious are worth their weight in gold. I hope you’ll come visit Kim the next time you’re looking for some inspiration.